Organelle intermixing and membrane scrambling in cell death

In many cell types, intracellular organelles are involved along the progression of cell death. While many studies have focused on individual organelles such as mitochondria, evidence has accumulated that different organelles are simultaneously engaged in dynamic changes induced by death signaling before nuclear alterations are evident. This chapter examines approaches to evaluate dynamic aspects of organelle changes and intermixing during apoptosis. The methods presented here, which have been adapted from approaches used in the field of membrane traffic, enable the evaluation of mitochondrial intermixing with other organelles and the centrifugal movements of internal membranes that are associated, in particular, with death receptor-mediated apoptosis.